Royal Youth pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship play-in and has qualified for the Knockout Stage.
Royal Youth achieved a great result as the Turkish team took down Flamengo eSports twice and punched its tickets to the best-of-five. The result comes after losing two games in the first half of the group stage.
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This young team challenged SuperMassive eSports’ supremacy in the Turkish region and came into the tournament as the new faces of Turkey. The Turkish audience had high expectations and analysts joined in the hype.
Group D was supposed to be closer but instead, it became the Damwon Gaming show.
Royal Youth lost twice against Damwon and one time versus Flamengo. On the second half of the group stage, it was do or die for the team. In the match against the Brazilian team, something changed for Royal Youth.
The team was prepared to play around jungler Can “Closer” Çelik and go for a more proactive approach. That new strategy paid off and it was enough to take down Flamengo twice in the same day. Flamengo went home disappointed, as the team had the loudest and most supportive fans and yet stlil couldn’t even qualify to the Knockout Stage.
Royal Youth showed a better understanding of their win conditions and overall seemed more comfortable on the stage. In the TCL summer finals, the team proved that they can thrive in high pressure situations and endure the challenges that come with high-stakes play.
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The next opponent for the Turkish team will be Clutch Gaming from the LCS. Straight out of the regional gauntlet, Clutch Gaming would’ve been considered the favorite to the match. After a series of missteps at Worlds, the game looks closer than ever.
The main point of contention will be in the jungle. While Closer keeps improving and pushing his team through to the finish line, Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo is struggling. Clutch’s jungler is not looking like himself and is back to a passive style that doesn’t benefit the team around him.
The jungler difference could make or break it for these teams. If Royal Youth wins the match and qualifies to the main event, it would go down in history as one of the biggest upsets in Worlds’ history.
Royal Youth and Clutch Gaming will clash on October 7, and fans can check out the full Knockout Stage schedule here.
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